Manifold Functions Research Articles

Single Phase Second Order Sliding Mode Controller for Mismatched Uncertain Systems with Extended Disturbances and Unknown Time-Varying Delays

In this paper, a novel single phase second order sliding mode controller (SPSOSMC) is proposed for the mismatched uncertain systems with extended disturbances and unknown time-varying delays. The main achievements of this study consist of three tasks: 1) a reaching phase in conventional sliding mode control (CSMC) technique is removed to ensure the global stability of the system; 2) an influence of the undesired high-frequency oscillation phenomenon in control input is vanished; 3) an exogenous perturbation is generally extended to the k-order disturbance of state variable. Firstly, a single phase switching manifold function is defined to eliminate the reaching phase in CSMC. Secondly, an unmeasurable state variable is estimated by using the proposed reduced-order sliding mode observer (ROSMO) tool. Next, a SPSOSMC is built based on the help of ROSMO tool and output information only. Then, a sufficient condition is established by employing the linear matrix inequality (LMI) technique and Lyapunov function theory such that the resulting sliding mode dynamics is asymptotically stable. Finally, a numerical example is simulated via the well-known MATLAB software to validate the effectiveness of the proposed technique.This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium provided the original work is properly cited.

Poetics of Titles: Some Observations on Literary Translations from Russian into Italian

The present article is devoted to the poetics of literary titles and their manifold meanings and functions in literary works. Due to their formal, stylistic and/or semantic characteristics, titles represent one of the most challenging and controversial elements in literary translations. In fact, they often refer to specific cultural aspects, idiomatic expressions or realia coming from the original linguistic context, which are not so easy to reproduce in translation with the same effects. Moreover, in some cases, editors or publishers prefer to propose specific titles slightly or consistently different from the originals for “marketing” strategies. Starting from Gerard Genette’s (1930-2018) seminal study on the topic, we will focus on some titles of Italian translations of Russian literary works of the Nineteenth and Twentieth centuries, aiming to analyse the reasons underlying different choices. We will also propose reflections on the complex intertextual and cross-cultural dynamics connected to literary titles’ history and their translation processes.

Bispecific mAb2 Antibodies Targeting CD59 Enhance the Complement-Dependent Cytotoxicity Mediated by Rituximab.

Inhibition of complement activation via the overexpression of complement-regulatory proteins (CRPs), most notably CD46, CD55 and CD59, is an efficient mechanism of disguise of cancer cells from a host immune system. This phenomenon extends to counteract the potency of therapeutic antibodies that could lyse target cells by eliciting complement cascade. The manifold functions and ubiquitous expression of CRPs preclude their systemic specific inhibition. We selected CD59-specific Fc fragments with a novel antigen binding site (Fcabs) from yeast display libraries using recombinant antigens expressed in bacterial or mammalian cells. To produce a bispecific antibody, we endowed rituximab, a clinically applied anti-CD20 antibody, used for therapy of various lymphoid malignancies, with an anti-CD59 Fcab. This bispecific antibody was able to induce more potent complement-dependent cytotoxicity for CD20 and CD59 expressing Raji cell line measured with lactate dehydrogenase-release assay, but had no effect on the cells with lower levels of the primary CD20 antigen or CD20-negative cells. Such molecules are promising candidates for future therapeutic development as they elicit a higher specific cytotoxicity at a lower concentration and hence cause a lower exhaustion of complement components.

Dark energy and accelerating cosmological evolution from osculating Barthel–Kropina geometry

Finsler geometry is an important extension of Riemann geometry, in which each point of the spacetime manifold is associated with an arbitrary internal variable. Two interesting Finsler geometries with many physical applications are the Randers and Kropina type geometries. A subclass of Finsler geometries is represented by the osculating Finsler spaces, in which the internal variable is a function of the base manifold coordinates only. In an osculating Finsler geometry, we introduce the Barthel connection, with the remarkable property that it is the Levi–Civita connection of a Riemannian metric. In the present work we consider the gravitational and cosmological implications of a Barthel–Kropina type geometry. We assume that in this geometry the Ricci type curvatures are related to the matter energy–momentum tensor by the standard Einstein equations. The generalized Friedmann equations in the Barthel–Kropina geometry are obtained by considering that the background Riemannian metric is of Friedmann–Lemaitre–Robertson–Walker type. The matter energy balance equation is also derived. The cosmological properties of the model are investigated in detail, and it is shown that the model admits a de Sitter type solution and that an effective dark energy component can also be generated. Several cosmological solutions are also obtained by numerically integrating the generalized Friedmann equations. A comparison of two specific classes of models with the observational data and with the standard Lambda CDM model is also performed, and it is found that the Barthel–Kropina type models give a satisfactory description of the observations.

Deficiency in Retinal TGFβ Signaling Aggravates Neurodegeneration by Modulating Pro-Apoptotic and MAP Kinase Pathways.

Transforming growth factor β (TGFβ) signaling has manifold functions such as regulation of cell growth, differentiation, migration, and apoptosis. Moreover, there is increasing evidence that it also acts in a neuroprotective manner. We recently showed that TGFβ receptor type 2 (Tgfbr2) is upregulated in retinal neurons and Müller cells during retinal degeneration. In this study we investigated if this upregulation of TGFβ signaling would have functional consequences in protecting retinal neurons. To this end, we analyzed the impact of TGFβ signaling on photoreceptor viability using mice with cell type-specific deletion of Tgfbr2 in retinal neurons and Müller cells (Tgfbr2ΔOC) in combination with a genetic model of photoreceptor degeneration (VPP). We examined retinal morphology and the degree of photoreceptor degeneration, as well as alterations of the retinal transcriptome. In summary, retinal morphology was not altered due to TGFβ signaling deficiency. In contrast, VPP-induced photoreceptor degeneration was drastically exacerbated in double mutant mice (Tgfbr2ΔOC; VPP) by induction of pro-apoptotic genes and dysregulation of the MAP kinase pathway. Therefore, TGFβ signaling in retinal neurons and Müller cells exhibits a neuroprotective effect and might pose promising therapeutic options to attenuate photoreceptor degeneration in humans.

Study of Several Alginate-Based Hydrogels for In Vitro 3D Cell Cultures.

Hydrogel, a special system of polymer solutions, can be obtained through the physical/chemical/enzymic crosslinking of polymer chains in a water-based dispersion medium. Different compositions and crosslinking methods endow hydrogel with diverse physicochemical properties. Those hydrogels with suitable physicochemical properties hold manifold functions in biomedical fields, such as cell transplantation, tissue engineering, organ manufacturing, drug releasing and pathological model analysis. In this study, several alginate-based composite hydrogels, including gelatin/alginate (G-A), gelatin/alginate/agarose (G-A-A), fibrinogen/alginate (F-A), fibrinogen/alginate/agarose (F-A-A) and control alginate (A) and alginate/agarose (A-A), were constructed. We researched the advantages and disadvantages of these hydrogels in terms of their microscopic structure (cell living space), water holding capacity, swelling rate, swelling–erosion ratio, mechanical properties and biocompatibility. Briefly, alginate-based hydrogels can be used for three-dimensional (3D) cell culture alone. However, when mixed with other natural polymers in different proportions, a relatively stable network with a good cytocompatibility, mechanical strength and water holding capacity can be formed. The physical and chemical properties of the hydrogels can be adjusted by changing the composition, proportion and cross-linking methods of the polymers. Conclusively, the G-A-A and F-A-A hydrogels are the best hydrogels for the in vitro 3D cell cultures and pathological model construction.

Neutrophil extracellular traps drive epithelial–mesenchymal transition of human colon cancer

Neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs) are extracellular structures, composed of nuclear DNA and various proteins released from neutrophils. Evidence is growing that NETs exert manifold functions in infection, immunity and cancer. Recently, NETs have been detected in colorectal cancer (CRC) tissues, but their association with disease progression and putative functional impact on tumourigenesis remained elusive. Using high-resolution stimulated emission depletion (STED) microscopy, we showed that citrullinated histone H3 (H3cit) is sufficient to specifically detect citrullinated NETs in colon cancer tissues. Among other evidence, this was supported by the close association of H3cit with de-condensed extracellular DNA, the hallmark of NETs. Extracellular DNA was reliably differentiated from nuclear condensed DNA by staining with an anti-DNA antibody, providing a novel and valuable tool to detect NETs in formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded tissues. Using these markers, the clinical association of NETs was investigated in a cohort of 85 patients with colon cancer. NETs were frequently detected (37/85, 44%) in colon cancer tissue sections and preferentially localised either only in the tumour centre or both in the tumour centre and the invasive front. Of note, citrullinated NETs were significantly associated with high histopathological tumour grades and lymph node metastasis. In vitro, purified NETs induced filopodia formation and cell motility in CRC cell lines. This was associated with increased expression of mesenchymal marker mRNAs (vimentin [VIM], fibronectin [FN1]) and epithelial-mesenchymal transition promoting transcription factors (ZEB1, Slug [SNAI2]), as well as decreased expression of the epithelial markers E-cadherin (CDH1) and epithelial cell adhesion molecule (EPCAM). These findings indicated that NETs activate an epithelial-mesenchymal transition-like process in CRC cells and may contribute to the metastatic progression of CRC. © 2021 The Authors. The Journal of Pathology published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of The Pathological Society of Great Britain and Ireland.

The scalar curvature in conical manifolds: some results on existence and obstructions

We first show that existence results due to Kazdan-Warner and Cruz-Vit\'orio can be extended to the category of manifolds with an isolated conical singularity. More precisely, we check that, under suitable conditions on the link manifold, any bounded and smooth function which is negative somewhere is the scalar curvature of some conical metric (with the boundary being minimal whenever it is non-empty). By way of comparison, we complement this analysis by indicating how index theory, as developed by Albin-Gell-Redman, may be used to transfer to this conical setting some of the classical obstructions to the existence of metrics with positive scalar curvature in the spin context. In particular, we use a version of the notion of infinite $K$-area to obstruct such metrics.

Bringing the Country to Town: ‘Rurban’ Landscapes in Iron Age Europe

Research on Iron Age agglomerations has a long tradition, but only recently have the environs of these temperate European central places begun to attract greater attention. Expanding the focus from site cores to their wider landscapes challenges the traditional dichotomies of rural and urban. This can also be observed in the internal structure of many complexes, which, despite their complexity and manifold functions, often included rural-like settlement structures. Here, we argue that the concept ‘rurban’ encapsulates the resemblances many Iron Age centres had with elements of farmed landscapes, and that they should be considered within the framework of low-density urbanism. We argue that comparative analogies help to expand our interpretative frameworks, while new fieldwork strategies may lead us to a better understanding of the use of space within these agglomerations.

Vinylic addition poly(norbornene-co-alkenylnorbornenes) synthesized with benzylic palladium catalysts: materials for manifold functionalization

Functional groups can be easily attached to robust vinylic addition polynorbornenes by the transformation of the pendant double bond of new efficiently synthesized copolymers.

Fridman Function, Injectivity Radius Function, and Squeezing Function

Very recently, the Fridman function of a complex manifold X has been identified as a dual of the squeezing function of X. In this paper, we prove that the Fridman function for certain hyperbolic complex manifold X is bounded above by the injectivity radius function of X. This result also suggests us to use the Fridman function to extend the definition of uniform thickness to higher dimensional hyperbolic complex manifolds. We also establish an expression for the Fridman function (with respect to the Kobayashi metric) when $$X = \mathbb {D} \diagup \varGamma $$ and $$\varGamma $$ is a torsion-free discrete subgroup of isometries on the standard open unit disk $$\mathbb {D}$$ . Hence explicit formulae of the Fridman functions for the annulus $$A_r$$ and the punctured disk $$\mathbb {D}^*$$ are derived. These are the first explicit non-constant Fridman functions. Finally, we explore the boundary behavior of the Fridman functions (with respect to the Kobayashi metric) and the squeezing functions for regular type hyperbolic Riemann surfaces and planar domains, respectively.

Teachers in Neoinstitutional and World Culture Theory

Theorizing the role that teachers play in national education systems in a period of rapid globalization has proven challenging for social scientists and comparative education theorists alike. In accounting for the manifold roles and functions of teachers over time, theory must account for both cultural persistence (institutionalization) as well as cultural change at multiple levels. As teachers did not play a prominent role in early neoinstitutional theories, later researchers in the world culture strand of theorizing had to account for interactions between transnational forces and local effects, postulating what role teachers played in adapting and resisting or promoting specific reforms by drawing on culturalist studies as well as theories of the social construction of reality. World culture scholars have increasingly investigated topics like sensemaking, teacher work roles, teacher quality, and the regimes of teacher beliefs. Future work in this tradition will likely grapple with issues of cultural dynamics at multiple levels.

Intracellular zinc during cell activation and zinc deficiency

IntroductionZinc is an essential trace element having manifold functions within living cells. Zinc deficiency but also zinc excess impairs cell-specific functions whereas a balanced zinc level is required for an adequate cell behavior. Material and methodsThis study deals with the impact of cellular priming due to stimulation with interleukin (IL)-1, IL-2, IL-4, IL-6 or the chemokine CXCL12a and its subsequent influence on the intracellular free zinc concentration. Since cellular priming and activation is essential for proper immunological reactions, and across that highly cell-type specific, we investigated T cells, B cells, and peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs). Additionally, alterations of the intracellular zinc content was investigated by inducing zinc deficiency using the zinc chelator N,N,N',N'-tetrakis(2-pyridylmethyl)ethane-1,2-diamine (TPEN) with subsequent re-supplementation of zinc, hence generating an intracellular zinc flux. Evaluation of zinc staining with FluoZin3-AM, Zinpyr-1 and Zinquin was done by flow cytometry or by fluorescence microscopy. ResultsOur results indicate that cellular priming for different periods of time (10 minutes/one hour) causes decreased intracellular free zinc concentrations in the FluoZin3-AM staining and increased zinc concentrations stained with Zinpyr-1. Furthermore, zinc supplementation after induced zinc deficiency leads to a fast and excessive rise of the intracellular free zinc levels in most cellular compartments. ConclusionOur study emphasizes the importance of zinc homeostasis and zinc distribution during cellular priming and for certain signaling cascades especially in T and B cells. Moreover, we demonstrated that zinc re-supplementation of zinc deficient cells results in significantly elevated intracellular free zinc concentrations compared to untreated controls. Hence, this underlines the need of a balanced zinc homeostasis for proper immune cell function.

Extra-interior

This article responds to the challenges facing creative practitioners whose work engages with aspects of ‘public’ provoked by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The temporary physical closures of established creative infrastructures such as galleries, museums and festivals have disrupted the traditional dynamics of production and reception. This presents both challenges and opportunities for artists and designers to develop new forms of creative engagement with public audiences and spaces. The confinement of people to a 5-kilometre radius during extended lockdowns in Melbourne, Australia in 2020 prompted a reflection on the opportunities of the ‘local’ as a particular context for creative practice. This restriction imposed a perimeter that brought people’s day- to-day lives into an enclosed loop and produced what could be thought of as a form of interior. In this period, ordinary domestic and local spaces — for example the home office or studio gained manifold functions for many creative practitioners, including as a space for self- initiated public presentations of their work. In several cases, windows, balconies, and doorways became thresholds for interaction with passers-by. This self-broadcasting situation provided an opportunity for practitioners to play an active role in cultivating new relations and forms of publicity from a localised setting. In this article, these shifts in practice are investigated through a critical reflection on a series of spatial interventions within a street-facing window of a studio space in Brunswick, Melbourne, an inner-city suburb where residential streets mix with spaces of industrial and creative production. The liminal space of the window became a way to speculate on the concept of thresholds between diverse conditions, including public and private, art and the everyday, urban and local, and interior and exterior. These investigations engaged with a ‘makeshift’ mode of practice, leading to the production of extra-ordinary interior conditions.

Ruelle Zeta Functions of Hyperbolic Manifolds and Reidemeister Torsion

This paper is concerned with the behavior of twisted Ruelle zeta functions of compact hyperbolic manifolds at the origin. Fried proved that for an orthogonal acyclic representation of the fundamental group of a compact hyperbolic manifold, the twisted Ruelle zeta function is holomorphic at s=0 and its value at s=0 equals the Reidemeister torsion. He also established a more general result for orthogonal representations, which are not acyclic. The purpose of the present paper is to extend Fried’s result to arbitrary finite dimensional representations of the fundamental group. The Reidemeister torsion is replaced by the complex-valued combinatorial torsion introduced by Cappell and Miller.

The Donaldson–Thomas partition function of the banana manifold \n (with an appendix coauthored with Stephen Pietromonaco)

The Donaldson–Thomas partition function of the banana manifold \n (with an appendix coauthored with Stephen Pietromonaco)

Argyreia nervosa (Samudra pala) leaf extract mediated silver nanoparticles and evaluation of their antioxidant, antibacterial activity, in vitro anticancer and apoptotic studies in KB oral cancer cell lines

In the present investigation, green synthesis of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) was carried out using aqueous leaf extract of Argyreia nervosa. The results of the spectral characterisation have revealed that the surface Plasmon resonance band was observed at 421 nm confirms the formation of AgNPs. The Fourier Transform Infra-red Spectroscopy result shows the reduction of silver nitrate into AgNPs by the reduction of different functional groups. Transmission Electron Microscope analysis revealed that the particles are roughly spherical and poly-disperse in shape and size, the particles are within the size range of 10–55 nm. Dynamic Light Scattering revealed that the nanoparticles were also within the range of 10–50 nm, An-AgNPs have a high negative zeta potential value of −38.9 mV. An-AgNPs showed efficient free radical scavenging activity and showed excellent antimicrobial activity. Anti-proliferative and cytotoxic effect of An-AgNPs was carried out by MTT assay against KB oral cancer cells, the IC50 value of An-AgNPs is 58.64 µg/ml. The cell's growth is arrested at the G2/M phase, so the An-AgNPs activated the Caspase 3 pathway which leads to the Apoptosis of KB oral cancer cells. So it is concluded that the green synthesised An-AgNPs have manifold functions.

Isolation and Electron Microscopic Analysis of Liver Cancer Cell Mitochondria.

Isolation of mitochondria is a crucial method for examining molecular details of this organelle's manifold functions. Historically, mitochondrial isolations required large amounts of sample material which impeded their isolation from cultured cells. We have therefore developed a method allowing for controlled and reproducible isolation of intact and functional mitochondria from diverse cell types in culture. Here we provide a methodological update of this approach together with a protocol for the subsequent analysis of such isolated mitochondria by electron microscopy. Combining the isolation procedure with this powerful imaging method can reveal ultrastructural mitochondrial peculiarities in disease settings that might not be evident in intact cells and allows for assessment of mitochondrial membrane integrity and sample purity.

Data-based reduced-order modeling of nonlinear two-time-scale processes

This work focuses on data-based reduced-order modeling of nonlinear processes that exhibit time-scale multiplicity. Using time-series data from all the state variables of a nonlinear process, an approach that involves nonlinear principal component analysis and neural network function approximators is employed to identify the fast and slow process state variables as well as compute a nonlinear slow manifold function approximation in which the fast variables are “slaved” in terms of the slow variables. Subsequently, a nonlinear sparse identification approach is employed to calculate a dynamic model of nonlinear first-order ordinary differential equations that describe the temporal evolution of the slow process states. The method is applied to two chemical process examples, and the advantages of the proposed method over using only sparse identification for the original two-time-scale process are discussed. The approach can be thought of as a data-based analogue of the classical singular perturbation modeling of two-time-scale processes where explicit time-scale separation is assumed (and expressed in terms of a small positive parameter ε multiplying the time derivative of the fast states), and the reduced-order slow subsystem is calculated analytically.

Protein quality control by the proteasome and autophagy: A regulatory role of ubiquitin and liquid-liquid phase separation

Degradation of dysfunctional, damaged, or misfolded proteins is a crucial component of the protein quality control network to maintain cellular proteostasis. Dysfunction in proteostasis regulation due to imbalances in protein synthesis, folding, and degradation challenges the integrity of the cellular proteome and favors the accumulation of aggregated proteins that can damage cells by a loss of their functions and/or a gain of adverse functions. Ubiquitination is an essential player in proteostasis regulation but also in orchestrating signaling pathways in response to various stress conditions. Both cellular degradation systems, the proteasome and autophagy, employ ubiquitin for selection and targeting of substrates to the degradative machineries. Here we summarize the manifold functions of ubiquitin in protein degradation and discuss its emerging role in the formation of biomolecular condensates through liquid-liquid phase separation, which allows spatiotemporal regulation of protein quality control.